The global diffusion of the sewing machine, 1850–1914

Abstract

The sewing machine was the first mass produced and mass marketed complex consumer good and the first to diffuse throughout the world. This article presents the first estimates of this diffusion in eighteen nations, which collectively represent well over 90% of all global sales from invention to 1914. While diffusion levels were absolutely higher in the more advanced economies, the article goes on to investigate the relationship between sewing machine consumption and real income levels. Once per capita incomes are taken into account, the consumption of sewing machines was relatively high among the less developed rather than the advanced nations.

Citation

Godley, A. (2001), "The global diffusion of the sewing machine, 1850–1914", Research in Economic History (Research in Economic History, Vol. 20), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-3268(01)20002-0